An instrument panel for a vehicle is provided with various operation parts capable of controlling vehicular equipment. In many cases, the passenger touches an operation panel provided in the operation part to control the vehicular equipment. Examples of equipment having such an operation part may include an air conditioner unit, audio equipment, and the like. Also, some instrument panels are provided with a storage part for storing small articles and the like. Both the operation part and the storage part are provided with a light source, and the instrument panel has a function of illuminating the operation panel and the interior of the storage panel by means of the respective light sources so that the passenger can see in the dark, for example, at night.
In particular, regarding the storage part, the interior thereof is required to be illuminated uniformly so that the passenger can visually confirm that small articles and the like are put in the storage part surely. An instrument panel to satisfy such requirement has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2005-297765. In the instrument panel described in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2005-297765, a panel part configured as an openable and closable lid is provided in the storage part, and a light source moving in association with the opening/closing operation of the panel part is provided. Therefore, in the state in which the panel part is closed, the panel part itself is illuminated by the light source, and in the state in which the panel part is open, the interior of storage part is illuminated by the light source.
Also, in order to efficiently illuminate both the operation part and the storage part, the operation part and the storage part are illuminated by the same light source. Such an instrument panel has been disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-22758. In the instrument panel described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-22758, audio equipment is mounted, and the panel of the audio equipment is covered with a finisher. The finisher is configured so as to cause light emitted from a single light source to pass through a lighting part of audio operation panel, and to transmit the light to a lighting part arranged in the storage part. Therefore, both the operation panel and the storage part are illuminated by the light emitted from the respective lighting parts.